Saadia Zahidi

Saadia Zahidi is a senior managing director at the World Economic Forum (WEF), a position she has held since 2018. In this role, she has contributed significantly to a number of key reports, including the WEF's Future of Jobs, Global Gender Gap, and Global Risks Reports. In addition to her work at the WEF, Zahidi has also served on the United Nations Secretary General's high-level panel on women's economic empowerment and the European Space Agency's high-level advisory group on human and robotic space exploration. This diverse range of high-level advisory roles has given Zahidi a broad perspective on a range of global issues.

Aside from her directorial and advisory roles, Zahidi is also a celebrated author. In 2018, she published "Fifty Million Rising: The New Generation of Working Women Transforming the Muslim World". This book, which focuses on the rise of working women in the Muslim world, was longlisted for the 2018 Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award, highlighting Zahidi's ability to provide insightful commentary on significant social trends.

Zahidi's authorial talents were recognized even before the publication of "Fifty Million Rising". In 2014, her book proposal won the inaugural Financial Times and McKinsey Bracken Bower Prize for young business authors. Zahidi's accomplishments have not gone unnoticed by the wider world, either. In both 2013 and 2014, she was named in the BBC's "100 Women" list, reflecting her status as a prominent voice in discussions of women's empowerment and global economic trends.